Investigating Multisensory Enrichment Effects on L2 Word Learning: Insights for Cognitive and Psycholinguistic Models of Language

Abstract

Recent research has demonstrated that multisensory enrichment and visual support can facilitate second language (L2) learning. However, despite growing interest in this research field, the effects of enrichment on second language learning remain mixed and not fully understood. In particular, it remains unclear which forms of enrichment are most beneficial, whether enrichment effects differ depending on the type of linguistic item being learned, how enrichment compares to more traditional translation-based learning, and whether visual support can also facilitate the learning of difficult non-native contrasts beyond what translation alone can provide. This dissertation addresses these central questions through three empirical studies that investigate the role of multisensory and visual enrichment in L2 learning across lexical and phonological domains. Study 1 examines whether gesture-based and image-based encoding support vocabulary learning more effectively than a translation-only control condition, and whether emotional properties of lexical items, such as valence and arousal, are associated with recall and retrieval performance. Study 2 focuses on gesture-based learning and investigates whether gestures differentially support the learning of nouns and prepositions, two lexical categories that differ in concreteness and contextual dependence. Study 3 extends the investigation to speech sound learning by examining whether orthographic support facilitates the perceptual learning of difficult Arabic emphatic consonant contrasts by naive English-speaking learners under high variability phonetic training. Together, the three studies are united by the broader goal of understanding how additional sensory and visual support helps learners build new linguistic representations in an L2 under difficult learning conditions. Across the dissertation, enrichment is examined as a tool for supporting both form–meaning mappings in vocabulary learning and form–category mappings in phonological learning. This dissertation contributes to theoretical discussions in psycholinguistics and second language acquisition, particularly in relation to embodied cognition, dual coding theory, revised hierarchical model and multisensory learning, while also offering practical implications for language pedagogy and technology-enhanced instruction.